I-88
The Interstate-88 is Paradise City's freeway that loops through 4 of the 5 districts; Downtown Paradise, Harbor Town, Silver Lake, and Palm Bay Heights. It globally circles around the urban part of the City. On the game map, the I-88 shows up as a thick yellow road compared to the regular streets appearing as thinner, white roads. Typically, the freeway is only driven on by players during Freeburn Online but it still holds a number of offline events for them to find and defeat. The Freeway has a larger flow of (dense) traffic compared to rural or urban roads, and it is more sought after when trying to achieve very high Showtime target scores. Aside from traffic, the Interstate's hazardous areas are the sectional transition gates, or toll booths. The generally 4-lane freeway is "combed" by the tolls and traffic squeezes between the booths. Here, the player should slow down and focus on getting through the gate (or around the side provided there are no parked civilian vehicles) to survive and continue. The traffic is intense, and tollbooths can end a record Timed Road Rule run in a fraction of a second if drivers are not cautious. I-88 Section 1 The first Section of the freeway is the one passing through the Downtown Paradise district. Due to the city layout, the freeway passes below it (underground) via the Downtown Tunnel. The section starts at the toll booths located on the large stone suspension bridge (overpasses Harber Street). From there the interstate heads east and gradually slopes down until it goes underground under Webster Avenue. The Paradise Tunnel section bends left northbound and is just under a mile long. It features 8 access ramps leading to Webster Avenue as well as 2 Natural Ramps, in the form of steps, in the middle of the freeway (one of them is a Super Jump). The freeway comes above ground after passing under 4th Street. The next toll booths are located 100 yards from the opening of the Tunnel. Events The first two events are found at the toll booths. The other events are at the exits, in order going clockwise. Landmarks of Interest *'Paradise City Exhibit Hall' (Waterfront) *Periodically, in the Paradise Tunnel, there are "Drive Safely" signs, but it's unlikely the player will obey them. I-88 Section 2 The second section of the freeway stretches farther than Section 1 as it cuts through a majority of the Palm Bay Heights district. This is also the first freeway section that features both traffic lanes placed on top of each other in form of a dual girder bridge (the southbound lane is above the northbound lane). The section starts at the Toll booths located north of the Paradise Tunnel and the end of Section 1. One-hundred yards after the toll, both lanes split up and get farther apart, while bending left westbound the northbound lane passes under the southbound lane. The freeway continues west and curves slightly as if it were avoiding nearby buildings, there are 8 access ramps located along this section of the highway, 4 linking with Moore Avenue and 4 more with Patterson Avenue. Above Hamilton Avenue, both lanes separate again and the northbound lane rises back at the height of the southbound lane. Once both lanes rise at the same level, the I-88 curves left southbound and slopes up until it reaches the Section 2/Section 3 toll booths. Events Burning Routes Landmarks of Interest In Motor City :*'Downtown Paradise Junkyard' In Big Surf :*'Patterson Avenue] Factory' :*'Hudson Avenue Car Park' :*'Moore Avenue Parking Lot' In Big Surf :*'Carsons Hotel' I-88 Section 3 This section of I-88 is the only one that stretches through the rural area of Paradise City and is also the one featuring the most construction sites, this is probably due to the fact that parts of the section are unfinished such as the South Rouse Drive access ramps. The section features 2 main bends and a long tunnel that cuts through the mountainside. Section 3 starts where Section 2 ended, and it carries on south-west while sloping up until it levels out and points directly south. It also passes by the Hubbard Avenue access ramps marked by the red steel bridge. As the freeway continues, it bends west and slopes up faintly until it reaches a double tunnel where both traffic lanes pass through the mountain separating Palm Bay Heights from Silver Lake. After exiting the tunnel, the interstate curves south again and towers over South Rouse Drive. The final stretch isn't straight or level since the road follows the terrain's shape, the toll booths marking the end of this Section are a few yards north of the Hubbard Avenue overpass. Events Burning Routes Landmarks of Interest In Ocean View :*'Paradise City River' :*'Red Girder bridge' :*'Paradise City sign' I-88 Section 4 I-88 Section 4 is the longest section of the Interstate and runs through a large part of Harbor Town and in Waterfront of Downtown Paradise. This is the second section that features both lanes above one another. Both lanes being separated, several dirt piles and openings in the side railings are featured along the hard shoulders giving players the possibility to switch from one lane to the other or to jump off the Interstate (and into the city) altogether. This section features no less than 6 bridge structures, showing well that the interstate was built over the existing streets. The Section starts at the toll booths and continues from Section 3, the highway carries on south while sloping slightly downhill. South of the Lambert Parkway underpass (and exits), the freeway curves east and the southbound lane overlaps the other, this lane also features a green steel arch bridge with an opening that lets players access it from the Paradise City Railroad. From the bend on, the I-88 heads east while staying above Manners Avenue. There are 4 access ramps that connect to Gabriel Avenue. The freeway continues over Manners Avenue, bending over the street to avoid the adjacent buildings. After having passed over Warren Avenue, the freeway bends north-east, still remaining over Manners Avenue before switching over to Harber Street and over King Avenue, where 4 more access ramps are located. The last stretch of the Section is very straight and both lanes are back side-by-side above a closed parking lot south of Harber Street. The Interstate finally completes the loop and meets back with Section 1 at the toll booths. Events Both events can be found at the designated toll booth Burning Routes Landmarks of Interest In South Bay :*'Harbor Town Junkyard' :*'Hall Avenue Car Park' :*'Murch Industrial' :*'Paradise City Hire Co.' :*'Nakamura Automobiles Car Plant' :*'Manners Avenue Car Park' :*'Shepard Avenue Daley's Donuts' In Paradise Wharf :*'Griffins Fish Sales' :*'Paradise City Seafood Wholesalers' :*'Paradise City Film School' In River City :*'The Marble Plaza' :*'Evans Boulevard Tunnel' In Waterfront :*'Harber Street Plaza' Gameplay Strategies *Race events: :During an offline race, the Freeway is best avoided because it has a set path that is extremely hard to get off of unless the player can find an exit or a crack in the wall railing. When racing online against other players (on certain Paradise Drives), the I-88 Freeway can be the key to winning. If used correctly, it is possible to cut seconds off a driver's final time and leave them miles ahead of their opponents. *Road Rage: :The I-88 is one of the most recommended places in Paradise City to win Road Rage events. Each side of the road (flowing and oncoming) have their advantages and disadvantages. When going towards Oncoming traffic, it's very easy to get Takedowns into vehicles since the cars are moving quickly. However, an extreme disadvantage is that the player is put in the same amount of risk and can also crash very easily. While driving with the flow of traffic the road has vehicles moving at a fairly fast pace in the same direction. This means that it's much harder to get as many Takedowns as one would while driving in oncoming. However, it's much safer on this side, and traffic checking becomes much more accessible since the cars are already moving at such a pace. *Stunt Run: :Despite several ramps and Billboards being scattered along the layout of the Highway, the I-88 remains inadvisable for such an event. The distance separating 2 ramps can be very long and the traffic may make it difficult to score and keep Stunt Run Combos active. *Marked Man: :For the same reasons when trying to Race on I-88, the Freeway is not recommended as part of an itinerary during Marked Man. Aside from brutal rivals, players would need to deal with dense traffic and dangerous toll booths as well as remembering to take the correct exit to a finish line. *Building Boost: :All of the entrance/exit ramps, as well as the small, unnamed road linking I-88 to Hubbard Avenue, are completely devoid of civilian traffic at almost all times. It is extremely rare to see even a single car on a ramp. This means that driving on the oncoming ramps has lower risk than driving oncoming on the freeway itself, since (with the exception of Hubbard Avenue's interchange) the player will only have to watch out for traffic at the intersections. If the player is lucky, cross-traffic lights will be red, reducing the risk even further. :If the player wishes to stay on the freeway, they should avoid the exits to South Rouse Drive, Lambert Parkway, and (especially when going eastbound) Harber Street and King Avenue. Freeburn Challenges The I-88 is the key point for many Freeburn Challenges, in all categories, players have a wide choice of Challenges to do on this Highway. Car Freeburn Challenges Car Timed Challenges Bike Challenges Timed Freeburn Notes *Toll prices; cars are $6, and trucks are $8 and up, but a discount is available for both (this is also shown in neon signs above each lane). Hazardous materials are restricted and camera use is prohibited. On some booths, there is also a sign saying "Cash -Pass-". *I-88 follows the tradition in Burnout Paradise of being named after past locations. In Burnout 2: Point of Impact, one of the tracks was called Interstate 88. *The toll booths on the I-88 are reminiscent of the toll booth on the Alpine track in Burnout 3 and the toll booth of the Autobahn track from Burnout Dominator. *In real life, there are two I-88's. The first, I-88 east, runs 117.75 miles from Binghamton, NY to Schenectady, NY. The second, I-88 west, runs 140.6 miles from Silvis, IL to Hillside, IL, where it joins with I-290 before entering Chicago. *The numbering of I-88 would be incorrect in real life, as I-88 is a beltway that circles a city. Normally, beltways have three digits with the first digit being an even number (IE: I-288 or I-488). *During production the Interstate-88 was originally a United States highway called "U.S. Route 2" (which exists in the United States).